Berlin  - The role of legendary Inspector Jacques Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies is the "comedian's Hamlet," said Hollywood actor Steve Martin at a press conference Friday marking the movie's screening at the Berlin Film Festival.

Pink Panther 2 comes two decades after the death of British actor Peter Sellers, the original Clouseau.

Following Sellers' death, it seemed that the Pink Panther franchise would disappear. But three years ago, Martin helped to revive the Pink Panther movie series and indicated Friday that there could even be a Pink Panther 3.

Martin waved off some less positive reviews of his latest Pink Panther movie saying: "I have received bad reviews all my life.

"Comedians always have to overcome critical snobbery," said Martin.

But he said that, despite often receiving bad reviews, many comedy movies are still around 10 or 20 years after their release. "Comedy is not a critics' medium," said Martin.

Martin introduces another character into the latest Pink Panther movie, a spoof on the pope. Asked at the press conference how he thought the Vatican would react to his spoof, Martin joked that the pope asked him to play him in the movie.

He said that the Catholic Church had grown use to being joked about. "The Catholic Church will probably last longer than this film," he said.

Martin essentially brought the press conference to an end with a performance on the banjo, which, after acting, is his other great passion. (dpa)